Jobless treated same as offenders

By
Gareth Hutchens

People who are asked to join work-for-the-dole program may end up doing the same work, and working alongside, people completing court-ordered community service for breaking the law.

People who are asked to join the Abbott government's overhauled work-for-the-dole program may end up doing the same work, and working alongside, people completing court-ordered community service for breaking the law.

The Abbott government revealed details this week of what will constitute work-for-the-dole activities under its proposed regime, saying the activities will be designed to help job seekers ''give something back to the community''.

But the types of jobs it has in mind - landscaping jobs, repair work on community halls, and working in Salvation Army centres - may be exactly the same as court-ordered community service placements.

A spokeswoman for Assistant Employment Minister Luke Hartsuyker said the government could not ensure people who work for the dole would not end up working alongside people completing community service.

''There's nothing that would prevent activities being conducted by both community-service orders and work for the dole at the same premises,'' the spokeswoman said.

''But work for the dole is preserved for people on income support.''

But Ashley Geelan, 36, says when he heard about the government's proposed work-for-the-dole activities they sounded exactly the same as activities he once had to do to complete court-ordered community service for a number of traffic offences.

Mr Geelan, from Victoria, said after he completed court-ordered community service in 2009, he joined a work-for-the-dole program but he wound up back at the same place, doing the same thing.

He also said he worked on three separate projects - sweeping the car park at Reservoir railway station, working at a Salvation Army store in Doncaster, and helping repair the Kinglake Ranges Neighbourhood House - that had a mix of work-for-the-dole workers and those doing court-ordered community work.

The experience was ''demoralising'' because it made him feel like he was being punished for being unemployed, he said.

''When you're trying to turn your life around and you end back up at the same place where you were doing community service, it's like you're being treated like a criminal,'' Mr Geelan said.

David Thompson, the chief executive of Jobs Australia, said that was ''exactly'' what the government wanted. ''Working off the consequences of a bad deed, which is what a community-service order is in a negative sense, shouldn't be translated into being punished for being unemployed, which is exactly what they're doing,'' he said.

''They need to make sure they don't mix up people who shouldn't be mixed up.''

Under the Abbott government's proposed work-for-the-dole program, program co-ordinators will work with local community organisations and employment service providers to find suitable activities and placements for job seekers.

They will mostly be found in the non-profit sector and in community-based organisations.

They may involve one person working in a Salvation Army op-shop, or teams painting a hall.

''The activities are designed to allow job seekers to give something back to the community and will reflect the specific needs and priorities of different regions,'' a spokeswoman for Mr Hartsuyker said.

The government's model for finding work-for-the-dole jobs is similar to models used to find community-work placements.

Victoria's Department of Justice uses a business unit, called Community Correctional Services, to forge partnerships with local community organisations to find jobs for court-ordered community work that will benefit the local community.

It can find placements for individuals, or work for teams of up to 12 people. They work for charities, non-profit organisations, councils and community groups.